Dead by Morning
by sunsetRODEO
Summary: [TORCHWOOD] I plan to turn this into a pretty lengthy fic featuring all the Torchwood characters, and one or two I've created myself. Features Jack predominantly, as he is the coolest. :D
1. Chapter 1

Captain Jack Harkness barrelled through the door with his gun trained on the figure ahead of him. Dr Owen Harper fumbled for the light switch and flicked it on. What they saw was no lumbering alien, as expected, but a girl crouched on the floor with her hands wrapped around her knees. She looked up, utterly terrified at the prospect of two men pointing guns at her. Before she could make any sound, Jack was knelt at her side with his thumb pressed over her windpipe.

"Don't scream," he whispered. "Whatever is in this house, it is imperative that it doesn't find us, and the slightest noise you make will ensure that it does. So if I let you go, will you promise to stay silent? 'Cause otherwise I'll have to sedate you." The girl nodded. "Good girl," Jack continued. "Stay here and try not to move, OK?" He quietly made his way over to Owen, who broke the miniature silence by crying out in pain and clutching his leg.

"Shit," he hissed and fell to the floor.

"Pull it out, Owen!" Jack yelled, completely disregarding the instructions he had just given. He then spoke into his headset; "Gwen, we need you and Toshiko to get in here immediately. We're a man down."

"I'm alright!" Owen proclaimed, holding up the object which had been lodged in his leg. It appeared to be some sort of claw, short, sharp and yellowed. He held it up to the light to examine it, just as another one whistled past, burying itself in the girl's neck. She gasped and slid to the floor, unconscious. Jack turned up the collar of his heavy military coat to protect his own throat. Where were these missiles coming from? He looked around, and before he had time to raise his weapon, a creature leapt from nowhere, mustard yellow and slimy. It crouched over the girl and flicked a long, forked tongue over its lips. It licked the blood oozing from the wound on the girl's neck, apparently savouring the taste. It was going to kill her.

And it would have done, had it not been for the bullet from Gwen's gun which became embedded in the alien's back, causing it to slump over the still unconscious girl. Gwen Cooper and Toshiko Sato moved forward to heft the thing up and make sure it was out. They were shocked at Jack's behaviour, as was Owen. Jack never missed a shot. What had distracted him so much that he had failed to even take this one?

"OK," Jack said, finally snapping out of his reverie. "We need to bring Colonel Mustard here in." He bent down to check the girl's vital signs. She was alive. "Her too".


	2. Chapter 2

The girl awoke and found herself lying on a medical bed with restraints, which were, fortunately, not in use at the moment. She struggled into a sitting position groggily, and propped herself up on her elbows. There was a pain in her neck, but she was unsure as to how it had got there. The young man who had been sitting in the swivel chair turned around and pressed an intercom button.

"Jack," he said "Sleeping Beauty's finally decided to join us." She vaguely remembered this man from somewhere. But where?

"Dr Owen Harper," he said, sticking his hand out. The girl hesitated. "Oh, come on love," he sighed, "I'm trying to be a gentleman here." She took the hand tentatively and shook it.

"Sadie?" he asked. She frowned.

"What? How do you know my name?"

"The database never lies," Owen replied. "I could go on if you like." He consulted a sheet of paper. "Here we go. Sadie Matthews. 15. Originally from Manchester, moved to Cardiff six years ago – actually, it sounds more like you were dragged kicking and screaming, welcome to the club – moved to Cardiff six years ago after your parents died… Am I alright to go on?"

"No, I don't think that'll be necessary, thank you, Owen," said an American voice. "I think you've freaked her out enough as it is." He smiled at Sadie. "Captain Jack Harkness. I'm in charge of his ass," he added, jerking a thumb in Owen's direction. "You feeling OK?

"Not really," she replied weakly. "Where the hell am I?" Jack ignored the question.

"Would you like to know what happened to you, Sadie?" he asked instead.

"Uh, yes please."

"You'll have to fill us in on a few things first. What were you doing right before we came in?"

"Um, I was at a friend's house. We were watching a film and she went upstairs to go to the toilet. So I was just sitting there, and the power went off. And then I heard something moving in the room. At first I though it was Jenny, but it sounded way too big to be her. And I couldn't see, obviously, because the lights were out, and then-" she broke off and her voice began to shake. "Then I heard Jenny scream." She looked up, tears in her eyes. "Please, what's happened to Jenny? What happened to _me_?"

"Hey," Jack said gently, putting a comforting hand on the girl's shoulder. "It's OK, we don't have to do this now-"

"No." Sadie said, as firmly as she could whilst still crying. "I want to know what happened to my friend." Jack took a deep breath, looked Sadie in the eye, and said;

"She's dead." He had said it as compassionately as possible, but it brought on a fresh wave of tears. She crumpled, her head on her knees, and sobbed.

"I'll come back in a little while," said Jack. "Owen!" He stormed upstairs, Owen following. He barged past Gwen, who was holding a cup of coffee.

"Jack!" she yelped. "Watch where you're going, what on earth is wrong with you?" Jack stopped and turned to face her.

"What's wrong with me? You know what, Gwen, next time, _you_ try explaining to a 15 year old girl - who, by the way, is an orphan – that her best friend has just died!" As he marched off, Gwen said to Owen,

"Don't you think Jack's been acting a bit odd lately? I mean, it's not like him to just stand idly by while a civilian's in danger, is it?"

"No," Owen said. "You're right, there is something wrong, but at the moment, we need to get the results from Sadie's blood test, and the alien's."

About an hour later, Jack made his way down to the room where Sadie was being kept, but she wasn't there. He eventually found her down in the cells, staring transfixed at the alien which had almost killed her. The creature was still sedated, and so was simply lying on the dank floor of the cell, snoring and exhaling foul breath. The Weevil was behind Sadie, dancing and snarling, but she either didn't notice or didn't care. She looked up when she saw Jack. Her pretty face was tearstained and her hands were shaking, but she managed to maintain a calm and cool composure as she said;

"Is that what killed Jenny?"

"Yeah," came the reply. "It's also what gave you that beauty on your neck".

Sadie felt the purplish bruise which had formed around the wound. "What is it?" she asked.

"We're not entirely sure of its name," answered the captain, "but what we do know is that there are only six of them known to exist. Yellow, that's your friend here, red, blue, green, purple and white. This here is Colonel Mustard".

"You named them after Cluedo characters?"

"Sure did. Why, you got a better idea?" He saw the hint of a smile play around her lips.

"Is it some kind of wild animal? Or, like a hybrid?"

Crunch time.

"It's an alien," Jack said.

"Pull the other one," Sadie replied.

"Seriously, I'm telling you the truth. This is Torchwood, an institute set up by Queen Victoria to monitor extra terrestrial activity and fight any that are a threat."

"Queen Victoria? As in, the one who reigned in about 1066?" she laughed. "Whatever."

"From 1837 until 1901, actually. And yes, the very same."

"You're not joking, are you?" Sadie asked, the laughter gone.

Jack shook his head. "Look around you? What do you think all of these are? All hybrids?"

"I think it's time for me to go," Sadie said. "Oh, and tell your friend his database _did_ lie."


End file.
